So I agree that Putin is a thug as well as being a “Russia first” leader.
I can see why he wants his pipeline.
I wont go so far as to say that that is the reason that it appears we have allied NATO forces that may be warming up to send a message to Assad. I would say that its far more likely that a WMD threat is taken more seriously by nations that experienced the horrors of such on the battlefields of WWI directly, than people who think that its all about controlling oil.
And there you go.